Beasley, Allen, Crow, Methvin, Portis & Miles, P.C.

Concerned at the 71 percent increase in elder abuse cases in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, over the past five years, city officials decided to pool resources and fight back. Earlier this month Medford Mayor Michael McGlynn, Middlesex County District Attorney Gerry Leone and Elders Affairs Secretary Mike Festa announced an initiative to prevent elder abuse, according to the Boston Globe.

The LEAPS (Leaders in Elder Abuse Prevention) initiative will bring together agencies, community organizations, and health care providers responsible for the care of senior citizens in an effort to better identify seniors who may be suffering from abuse or living in at-risk situations. Once these individuals are identified, LEAPS would help get them proper care and get them out of a negative situation before it escalates.

Officials say that by the time a case of elder abuse is brought to their attention, it is too late. Often, there are warning signs that could have signaled danger, and if those signals had been picked up, the negative situation could have been stopped before it got worse. LEAPS will train members to detect signs of elder abuse and how they can better assist in individual cases. This includes assisting financially strapped caregivers with prescriptions, transportation, food and health services.

The Boston Globe story states that in addition to the Office of Elder Affairs and the Middlesex district attorney’s office, institutions that have joined LEAPS include Emerson Hospital in Concord, Lahey Clinic in Peabody and Burlington, Newton-Wellesley Hospital, and Mount Auburn Hospital in Cambridge. The initiative does not call for any public funding, as it is a simple sharing of services and information.

Individuals in the Middlesex area can contact the Elder Abuse Hotline at 800-922-2275; Protective Services Programs and Services at 617-727-7750; and Prescription Advantage at 800-243-4636.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 15th, 2008 at 9:36 am and is filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.